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Sunday, April 13, 2014

Surf and Turf

Well maybe not really surf and turf but ski and tenkara. Last week I was able to get off work for a day during the week and head out for a good and full morning of skiing in Keystone. I got my 25,000 vertical feet by noon and changed from my ski boots, pants and jackets into wading boots, waders and a warm windproof fleece.

Heading down the hill to Dillon, I started to get mentally ready for high flows of the Blue River - it was at 450cfs, quite a significant higher flow than the average of about 70cfs during this time of year. Apparently the folks at Denver Water who manage the reservoir are making room to accommodate what should be a stellar run-off this year (the Colorado River Drainage snow pack is at about 125% of median at this time of year).

The high flows were a bummer but I haven't really been out fishing since November last year other than one quick venture to the South Platte a month ago. I started fishing the seems and few pockets that that were not "ripping" and I quickly hooked-up with my first fish and landed, surprisingly, a nice brown. Not a river monster of a rainbow the river is known for but still, my fist trout of the year.

I headed up towards the dam and hooked another fish, bigger this time, but I lost her before I could get her to the surface. I fished for another hour or so but didn't get any more action. I packed-up and headed happy and tired back home.

I am looking forward to this year's fishing, there should be plenty of water and run-off could last well into July.

Rocky Mountain Tenkara fishing at its finest! Hard to beat the slopes and then the Blue! Glad you were able to hook up for the first 2014 fish and look forward to the rest of the 2014 adventures! Appreciate the tenacity...high water or not! Nice post and beautiful fish!

Who....?

My home is currently London where I moved to in 2015 from Denver, Colorado, where I started fishing tenkara in 2010. I grew up in Switzerland, then spent a few years in Vienna/Austria and moved then to the New York City area where I met my wife. I learned fly fishing in 1998 in the Austrian Alps while living Vienna/Austria.